Liberty Bowl Win Would Put Cats In Good Company

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Bear Bryant's brief and successful tenureas Kentucky football coach hasn't been matched since his departure55 years ago. The Wildcats have occasionally reached a bowl or two in thedecades that followed, but never three straight. That was territoryonly Bear's boys reached. Wildcats coach Rich Brooks has already matched Bryant by leadingKentucky (6-6) to three straight postseason games. With a victoryagainst East Carolina (9-4) in the Liberty Bowl on Friday, Kentuckywill have three consecutive bowl victories for the first time. Fittingly, the Wildcats will take a stab at program history inthe Liberty Bowl, where Bryant coached Alabama four times -including the bowl's inaugural game 50 years ago and the final gameof his great career in 1982. "There are not a lot of bowl games that have been around 50years," Brooks said. "It has great history. It has great teamsthat have played, great coaches that have been in it, great playersthat have been in it." For the last two years, a Southeastern Conference also-ran hasdefeated the Conference USA champion in Memphis, but Brooks is thefirst to acknowledge his Wildcats are the underdogs in this one.East Carolina, appearing in its third consecutive bowl and itsfifth since 2000, is hardly intimidated by major conference foes,having knocked off Virginia Tech and West Virginia and lostnarrowly to North Carolina State. "We just want to prove we're the same team at the end of theyear that started the season," Pirates coach Skip Holtz said. Kentucky just wants to prove it's not the same team thatfinished the SEC season in a three-game tailspin, including ablowout loss to Tennessee in the season finale. This isn't the high-octane Kentucky passing offense that won thelast two Music City Bowls behind the Wildcats' record-settingformer quarterback, Andre Woodson. This team looks nothing like the2007 Wildcats but a lot like, well, the 2008 Pirates. Both programs thrive on defense, relying on turnovers to get theball in prime field position and star-studded defensive lines topressure the opposing quarterback. Junior C.J. Wilson, East Carolina's all-Conference USA defensiveend, ranks 12th in the country among active players in sacks pergame and has racked up nearly half of his 21½ career sacks thisseason. On the other side, senior Zack Slate has played a keycomplimentary role, getting to the quarterback five times thisseason. That pressure has led to hasty passes, and the Pirates havecapitalized on those with 21 interceptions - including five againstTulsa in the Conference USA championship game. Wilson and Slate say their motto has been to outplay the otherteam's defense, and considering Kentucky's athletes there, that'sno easy task. "We've got to match their level of intensity and add some moreto it," Slate said. "It'll be, 'Grit your teeth. Let's go bumpsome heads."' If the matchup is defense against defense, Kentucky defensiveend Jeremy Jarmon - a Memphis native - doesn't seem inclined towant to lose that battle. Jarmon lobbied hard to play in theLiberty Bowl and hurried back from arthroscopic knee surgery tomake sure he could suit up. "I knew that I would play in this game," he said. "My surgerywasn't very serious. It has been just a matter of being patient,waiting for my body to heal itself." Jarmon isn't the only Wildcat banged up. Many standouts remainsidelined by injury, including running back Derrick Locke and topreceiver Dicky Lyons Jr. (who made the trip and won the BealeStreet Elvis impersonation contest despite being unable to play). Another late-season injury to freshman speedster quarterbackRandall Cobb means Mike Hartline has regained the starting job helost eight games in. Like Hartline, East Carolina quarterback Ryan Pinkney bouncedback from a midseason benching but has impressed since, throwingfor 2,379 yards and 11 TDs and running for another. "It's human nature to feel kind of down," Pinkney said. "Butyou can't be selfish if you weren't getting the job done. I knew ifI got my chance, my teammates were counting on me."

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